It’s time to give up the fantasy of an imminent overthrow of Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro (above) and negotiate a special presidential election. It’s a realistic strategy to call Maduro’s bluff instead of letting him call President Trump’s, writes Tim Padgett, the Americas Editor for WLRN. (photo: AFP/Getty Images)

There’s a video Venezuelan expats are sharing on WhatsApp like a bottle of Cacique rum at a beach party.

It’s got a guy dressed as Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, shackled in a small cage, being paraded around a plaza in Spain by an effigy of Donald Trump. “Maduro” is dressed in one of his garish Venezuelan-flag track suits, making vulgar gestures to the crowd, as a smiling “Trump” takes the captured despot on a perp walk.

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It’s funny.

It’s also fantasy.

And the sooner that dawns on everyone who wants democracy restored in Venezuela — not to mention basics like food and medicine — the sooner the country might be on a path to the long overdue exit of Maduro and his catastrophic socialist regime.